Former Maharashtra Ashok Chavan
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: The Chavan-family of Nanded had been die-hard Nehru-Gandhi loyalists - and big players in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra.
Late Shankarrao Chavan (14 July 1920 – 26 February 2004) and his son Ashok Chavan had been chief minister twice.
Incidentally, they are the first and only father-son duo in Maharashtra's history to become chief ministers.
The 65-year-old Chavan was chief minister between 8 December, 2008-11 November 2009.
Chavan, a Maratha, the most dominant factor in the politics of the western state, had also been the the President of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) from 2014 to 2019.
During the October 2023 reshuffle by the All India Congress Committee (AICC), he was inducted into the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party.
His exit has many reasons, primarily the projected BJP-led NDA sweep in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the opposition I.N.D.I.A. not yet making the mark.
Born on 25 October, 1958, he did his schooling at the St Xavier High School and graduated in Science from Hazarimal Jomani College and Master's in Business Management from and BYK College of Commerce.
The senior Chavan, who was known as ‘Headmaster’, had been chief minister twice and had been union minister having handled portfolios like home, finance, defence, cultural affairs, social welfare and education besides being the deputy chairman of Planning Commission.
Chavan got his first lessons in politics from his late father.
Chavan’s wife Ameeta too had been an MLA.
In 1992, he was elected as MLC to the Maharashtra Legislative Council and later joined as Minister of State for Public works, Urban Development and Home in March 1993.
In 2003, then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh - who headed the Congress-NCP Democratic Front - appointed Chavan as Minister for Transport, Ports, Cultural Affairs and Protocol. In November 2004, he was given the portfolio of Industries, Mining, Cultural Affairs & Protocol.
In the aftermath of 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008, Deshmukh had to go and in his place,Chavan was appointed. In 2009 Vidhan Sabha polls, he successfully led the polls and became the chief minister again but in November 2010 had to resign because of the Adarsh scam.
In 2014, the Narendra Modi wave swept the Congress-led UPA government out of power, however, in Maharashtra, Chavan won the Nanded seat and the party also won the Parbhani seat. In 2019 polls, Congress could win the lone seat of Chandrapur. "Despite the Narendra Modi wave, Chavan made all efforts to rejuvenate the Congress," a senior Congress leader said, adding that when Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra passed through Maharashtra, he played a key role.
In the Uddhav Thackeray-headed Maha Vikas Aghadi government, he was a minister.
When the Eknath Shinde-led Maha Yuti government faced the confidence motion, around a dozen Congress MLAs did not vote or could not vote and among them was Chavan. Since then, there have been reports that he was in touch with BJP and would join. However, he was still inducted into the Congress Working Committee, the highest decision making body of the Congress.